Justin B. Terry-Smith has been involved in Gay and HIV Activism since 1999. He is an Air Force 9/11 Disabled Vet. Raised in Silver Spring, MD, he now lives in Severn, MD with his husband Phil. He writes an HIV/STI Advice Column for A&U Magazine, is a Contributing writer for thebody.com, a Life Coach and an Adjunct Professor. He has earned his Doctorate in Public Health with a concentration in Infectious Disease.

Justin's HIV Journal

Sunday, February 22, 2015

I
got a notification on my phone from my Grindr application so I click on it to
check the message. This guy immediately
started with, “Really Justin?” I then didn't understand what he was referring to, so I replied, “Really what?” He then went on to say that he was disappointed
in me for having my HIV status at the bottom of my Grindr profile and that I
was once his hero and etc. I just couldn't believe this. All I could do was block
the immaturity out and off my phone.

1)There are people on Grindr that don’t even say their status

2)One of the first things I put is that I’m married and that
my husband knows I have this application on my phone

3)It’s really none of your business what I’m doing in my own
bedroom but I’m open about my HIV status to all sexual partners – FYI.

4)If the basis of me not being your role model HIV positive
activist is that my status is at the bottom of my Grindr profile than find
another HIV activist to follow because you've been following me for the wrong
reasons.

The article
below can be found on Baltimore Gay Life Newspaper:

Many
people this holiday season will get what they want and what they don’t want. My
gift to you this year, dear reader, is the gift of purity. Many of us think of
the word purity and automatically think of virginity. I am by no means a
virgin, and neither are the majority of you reading this column. With that idea
in mind, I ask – why on earth do we engage in slut shaming?

At
the recent Mr. Maryland Leather contest one of the contestants gave a speech
about slut shaming in the gay community and I was truly touched. He talked
about how two of his friends had committed suicide because of the constant slut
shaming (which is another form of bullying) they endured from their so-called
friends.

As
I do every year, I took the stage with all the former Mr. Maryland Leathers,
and as my name was being called I heard the words, “Whore” being yelled at me.
I stopped and realized that this was not right because to look on my husband’s
face was the look of embarrassment and shame. When the contest was over, I
marched up to those three people and told them to stop slut shaming me. The
whole time I thought to myself this doesn’t just affect me but it affects my
husband. If they don’t have any respect for me at least respect my husband and
in turn respect my marriage. I really didn’t deserve it, neither did my husband
or my son.

For
HIV negative people, slut shaming can lead to a lowered self-esteem, which
could make them at greater risk of contracting HIV. Having people shame you
because of your sexual appetites only leads you to keep them secret and pushes
them back into the closet. This also can be said for people who use
preventative measure like Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). People think because
you are on PrEP means that you do not use a condom and you have promiscuous sex,
which is not the case at all because this is a form of HIV prevention.

People
will do with their own bodies as they would like and it is not up to us to tell
them what to do. It takes two (sometimes more) to tango and if it’s consensual
then who the hell are you to tell them what they cannot do.

I suggest to all of you reading this column to keep that in mind before
you shame someone into thinking that what they do sexually is wrong. People
need to wake up to the ways of the world and get their head out of their
behinds and other people’s personal lives; because frankly it’s none of your
damn slut shaming business

Justin B Terry-Smith

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About Justin B Terry-Smith

My name is Justin B Terry-Smith, I'm a Black Gay man living in Laurel, Maryland and I am HIV+. I've decided to share my story because I feel it's important that people who have unprotected sex know what they might be getting themselves into. People have asked me why I am doing this, why have I put my personal business out like this. I tell them it is to help educate people, to make them aware and to make them think twice about having unprotected sex. This is my personal journey that needs to be told to help the community.
HIV is neither glamorous or a rite of passage. Watch the Journal and think twice.
In the words of Pedro Zamora, "I'm not dying. I'm living with it"